"What 6 letter word beginning with S would be the same if it started with Th."
This is the question posed by Will Shortz on Sunday on Weekend Edition on NPR. We are sitting at Passover Seder with my entire family trying to figure this out and are hitting a dead end.
There are clues online about bagels and food and that kids would like it. Anyone have any ideas?

Yesterday, an article I wrote for Advocate.com, the leading LGBT news magazine, discussing why at this point in time it's ridiculous for people to see treat gays as second-class citizens. The following is an excerpt and you can read the rest of the article by clicking the link below.

Respecting Marriage

With the introduction of the Respect for Marriage Act, gay
and lesbian couples moved one step closer to marriage equality in
America. The big question: Will that be enough to really effect change
in places where gays are still ostracized and treated as second-class
citizens?

The bill, introduced in the U.S. House on September
15 by Democratic representatives Jerrold Nadler of New York, Tammy
Baldwin of Wisconsin, and Jared Polis of Colorado, seeks to repeal the
Defense of Marriage Act, signed into law in 1996 by President Bill
Clinton. In an interesting twist, Clinton is a major backer of the new
bill, saying, "Throughout my life I have opposed discrimination of any
kind. When the Defense of Marriage Act was passed, gay couples could
not marry anywhere in the United States or the world for that matter.
Thirteen years later, the fabric of our country has changed, and so
should this policy."

No it's not the avocados; fresh sushi-grade fish; year-round hiking, surfing or biking; the abundance of hybrid cars; Half Dome; Coachella; Tahoe; Golden Gate Bridge; Hollywood or Hwy 1 (but these all pretty much kick ass). It's the fact that the California Supreme Court believes in the rights of all people.

California's high court today overturned a ruling saying that it's unconstitutional to deny gay couples the right to marry. They likened it to not allowing interracial couples to marry.
The justices, in a 4-3 ruling, wrote, "In view of the substance and significance of the fundamental constitutional right to form a family relationship, the California Constitution properly must be interpreted to guarantee this basic civil right to all Californians, whether gay or heterosexual, and to same-sex couples as well as to opposite-sex couples."

This is a huge day for our country. Massachusetts made same-sex marriage legal four years ago at the same time that San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom started issuing marriage licenses to gay couples. All the marriages granted during that period had been nullified, but will now be reinstated. Today Newsom said, "It's a throwaway line, but I think it's true: As California goes, so goes the rest of the nation."

As a Chicago resident, I have to ask: So Mayor Daley -- when are you going to start issuing same-sex marriage licenses in the city? Let's make this happen!

Feeling good about your vocabulary? Want to test yourself -- or enhance your knowledge of the English language? At FreeRice, by knowing the definitions of words, you can send grains of rice to hungry people in developing nations around the world. In partnership with the United Nations World Food Program, FreeRice has donated more than 9 billion grains of rice since it launched in early October. That first month, more than 537 million grains were donated; In November, that number jumped to 4.76 billion for the month. Obviously word is getting out and more and more people are playing the FreeRice game. Not only do you get to improve your vocabulary, but feel good at the same time, knowing you're helping put food on someone's plate. Worldwide hunger is one of the most serious issues threatening people today. According to the UN, 25,000 people (mostly kids) die from hunger or hunger-related causes. So instead of working on that report that's due by 5 pm, spend 20 minutes and see how many words you can get right. And when your boss yells at you, make them feel guilty they're not helping stomp out hunger.